What is the best free anti-virus software that will not screw with my computer? Answered

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Thank you everyone! I actually forgot about this question, but you were all very helpful. If anyone is wondering, I currently use AVG for anti virus and malwarebytes for scanning. Malwarebytes is the best malware scanner/remover I have ever used, I cannot recommend it enough.

The best there is...Microsoft Security Essentials from microsoft.com. Best to have all your SP3 and other updates installed as well for it to update itself. Works great in the back ground without bogging down your PC.

AVG used to be the best but they got arrogant and the free version isn't as good as it was. I recommend Avast because it gives less false positives. AVG took the last straw for me when it deleted iTunes because it thought it was a virus. No, it wasn;t infected, it was just plain old vanilla-flavoured itunes. stupid avg. avast for the win :)

pc world tested the most popular free versions. Avira won although it is a bit more difficult to read it is the best.Avast personal was second. Between those you should be safe I also like to use a free product called threatfire as well

A good guide can be found on komando.com. This is a lady with a weekly radio show, who gives good advice on computer/Internet use, regarding protecting your computer and children as well. I use AVG in conjunction with Zonealarm firewall, as Windows firewall kinda... well, rhymes with trucks. Go to komando.com, you'll see an image of her on the homepage, and look under internet tips of the day, or free software. Did I mention these two apps are free? I'm cheap, and haven't had any problems in several years.
Good luck!

AVG or Avast! are good choices.
Consider that it may not be a virus problem. You should also be aiming to get rid of any spyware as well as cleaning your internet cache and temporary files. There are a lot of other things that you can work on to improve your system's health as well... too many to list here.